Vladimir Zdorovenin and his son, Kirill Zdorovenin were indicted in May 2007 on nine charges relating to conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud, aggravated identity theft, and securities fraud.

Vladimir Zdorovenin was arrested in Zurich in March last year and arrived in New York yesterday following his extradition by Swiss authorities. He faces a maximum sentence of 142 years in prison if found guilty. His son remains at large.

FBI assistant director in charge of the case Janice Fedarcyk states: "Mr. Zdorovenin's egregious behavior illustrated the true colors of the cyber underground, as he and his son allegedly defrauded consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars using methods that included compromised credit cards, all fronted through fictitious companies they had created. In addition, Zdorovenin allegedly installed malware to access victims' brokerage accounts, trading victims' securities and manipulating the price of stocks Zdorovenin already owned."

She adds: "This should serve as a stark reminder to anyone who believes he can commit cyber crime and hide behind the safety and anonymity of a Russian IP address; you are not beyond the reach of the FBI."